Anti-ballooning device



March 9, 1965 Filed Sept. 21, 1962 K. H. PIPER ANTI-BALLOONING DEVICE 3Sheets-Sheet l lLd/a INVENTOR.

hlS

ATTORNEYS March 9, 1965 Filed Sept. 21, 1962 K. H. PIPER ANTI-BALLOONINGDEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG 4 if I I ifl 27 INVENTOR.

KENNETH H PIPER his ATTORNEYS March 9, 1965 K. H. PIPER 3,172,248

ANTIBALLOONING DEVICE Filed Sept. 21, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 1 g!!! rM!!! 5% INVENTOR. KEN NETH H. PIPER h is ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,172,248 ANTI-BALLGONING DEVICE Kenneth H. Piper,Whitinsviiie, Mass, assignor to Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsviile,Mesa, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Sept. 21, 1962, Ser. No.225,248 2 Ciaims. (Cl. 5773) The invention relates in general toapparatus for controlling the flow of yarn in textile machines and moreparticularly to devices for preventing the ballooning of yarn as it iswound upon a rotating tube or bobbin.

Generally in the textile industry long strands of yarn are wound uponrapidly rotating tubes forming bobbin packages which are readilytransportable and easily unwound at Weaving locations. One of the manyproblems faced in this rapid winding operation has been the tendency ofthe yarn to respond to a centrifugal force as it is being pulled upon arotating tube; The ballooning yarn w ich results produces a looselywound bobbin package which is a highly undesirable feature.

Although one solution, of course, would be to increase the tensionacting on the strand of yarn, it is obvious that its tensile strength isquite limited. Thus, the textile industry has for some time sought asolution which provides for a limited tension at the proper point and inthe proper direction, and has produced an array of yarn guiding systemsand devices for this very purpose.

It has been formerly proposed to mount anti-ballooning devices on thespinning frame. Presently, however, due to advancements in the art thespindle-mounted anti ballooning devices cannot be used because thebobbin or the conventional winding tube upon which the yarn is wound, ismuch longer than it has been in the past, with the tube extending wellbeyond the tip of the spindle blade.

There have also recently been attempts to control the ballooning yarn bya device mounted on the tube, but since these devices must be removedfrom one tube and inserted into another each time the frame is dofied,they have not been favorably accepted by the frame operators.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages of the prior art byproviding a device, mountable on the top of each bobbin or conventionalwinding tube, which does not have to be removed every time the frame isdolled and which may be easily and quickly applied to tubes which arenow in use.

Briefly, this invention consists of a piece made of plastic or someother material rigidly attached to the upper rim of a rotating bobbin orwinding tube. Projections or appendages near the upper rim of this pieceengage a strand of yarn being fed to a rotating spindle from draftingrolls, the point of engagement being preferably very near and just belowan overhead thread guide.

The strand of yarn is guided in accordance with this inventiondownwardly for several turns about the winding tube and is thendelivered to a roving ring traveler which forms the bobbin package. Thefact that the yarn is engaged by the rotating projection causes tensionto develop in the transient yarn. This allows the several turns wound onthe winding tube before the yarn passes through the ring traveler, toremain in place, thus preventing ballooning along this section of yarnbelow the projection. The fact that the rotating projection ispositioned close to the horizontal plane of the centrally located andnon-rotating thread guide prevents ballooning of the short centralportion of the rotating yarn. Furthermore, the side surface of theanti-ballooning device is preferably in the shape of a truncated cone.This permits the thread guide and the guilding projection to be incloser proximity and thereby assists in stabilizing the path of yarn.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

FEGURE 1 shows an elevational view of the antiballooning device of thisinvention mounted on a conventional winding tube and guiding the yarnbeing formed into a bobbin package;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the anti-ballooningdevice firmly attached to the upper portion of a conventional windingtube;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the device as shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional elevation of a second embodiment of theanti-ballooning device mounted firmly on a non-conventional windingtube; and

FTGURE 5 is a cross-sectional elevation of a third embodirnent of theanti-ballooning device mounted with an adaptor on a conventional windingtube.

, With reference to the drawing, the anti-ballooning device is indicatedgenerally by the reference character Iii. As illustrated in FIG. 1, thetruncated cone-shaped body portion 11 with its tapering side surface isattached firmly on winding tube 12 which, in turn, is mounted uponspindle 13 as it rotates above lower frame or rail 14.

The strand of yarn 15, which is to be wound upon the winding tube 12, isled from overhead drafting rolls (not shown) to a thread guide 16 whichis located directly above the body portion 11 as it sets on the windingtube 12. Yarn 14 is turned at this point by the thread guide 16 througha first relatively steep angle toward the upper perimeter of the bodyportion 11, engaging one of the plurality of projections 17 which arepositioned equidistantly adjacent this upper rim on the tapering sidesurface.

Each of these smooth longitudinally symmetric projections or appendages17 form two notches 18 with the tapering side surface of the bodyportion 11. The projections are symmetric about their vertical axes inorder to permit winding the yarn in either direction, having asemicircular upper portion 19 and having an elongated lower portion 2%tapering to a point. The projections 17 are of sufiicient magnitude toforce the yarn 15 to remain in the notch 18 which it initially engages.

The yarn 15 is turned through a second relatively large or steep angleby the upper rounded surface 19 and then is guided downwardly by theelongated lower portion 20 and the tapering side surface of the bodyportion 11, in a spiraling manner about winding tube 12. The positioningof the guiding projections 17 close to the thread guide 16 andhorizontally displaced therefrom, forces the yarn 15 to move through therelatively steep angles assuring stability below that point, and at thesame time introducing a twist into that upper portion of yarn betweenthe drafting rolls and the thread guide.

As shown in FIG. 1, the yarn 15 is thereafter received by conventionalring traveler 21 which roves continually back and forth in a directionparallel to the tube 12, forming the conventional bobbin package.

The body portion 11 of the anti-ballooning device 10 is virtually hollowcontaining a cylindrical recess 22 formed in its upper surface. The basearea 23, forming the bottom of recess 22, provides rigid support for afastening element 24 which extends perpendicularly downward from thecenter of its lower surface. This lower surface of thebase 23 also has acircumferential groove 25 for receiving the upper rounded rim 26 ofwinding tube 12. This groove '25 is formed in the lower cylindricalsection of body portion 11 and provides for a smooth, even engagement ofthe supporting winding tube.

Patented Mar. 9, 1965 A locking plate 27 which can be inserted throughthe lower opening of tube 12 has a tapped hole for receiving thethreaded fastening element 24. When wound into a tight locking positionthe upper circumferential rim of locking plate 27 is forced firmlyagainst the lower inside surface of tube rim 26. In this manner theanti-ballooning device is firmly attached to the winding tube 12 asshown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

A second embodiment of an anti-ballooning device is shown in FIG. 4. Thedevice, generally indicated by the reference character 28, is composedof the standard body portion and projections as described above. In thisem bodiment, however, the lower portion of the anti-ballooning device isprovided with a generally cylindrically shaped, tubular portion 3% whichis narrower in cross section than the main body portion of theanti-ballooning device. This cylindrical portion 3% is designed to fittightly within the inner recess of a non-conventional winding tube 29.The frictional contact between the inner surface 31 of .the windzingtube 29 and the external surface of the cylindrical projection 30maintains a tight locking engagement throughout the life of theanti-ballooning device 28.

When the device 28 has become worn it may be replaced by placing asuitable tool within aperture 32. As in the other embodiments thewinding tube may be reused during many winding operations since theanti-ballooning devices, which are provided by this invention arereadily replaceable after they are no longer suitable for efiicient use.7 p

A third embodiment of the anti-ballooning device. is disclosed in PEG. 5wherein the body portion 33 is much smaller in size and is designed tobe used with anadapter 36 for attachment to the conventional windingtube 12. Projections 34 are designed to slightly overlap 'the upper rim35 of adapter 36. Furthermore, a lower cylindrical protruding portion 38of the ahti-ballooning device 33 is designed to enter into a tightfrictional engagement with the inner cylindrical surface 37 of theadapter 36. The lower portion of the adapter is provided with grooves 40which are designed to enter the grooves 41 located on the outer surfaceof the conventional winding tube 12. The inner lower surface of theadapter 36 may be tapered slightly in a conical configuration so that itmay easily fit over the slightly conical surface of the conventionalwinding tube. This third embodiment may also be used with a new type ofwinding tube such as tube 29 as shown inFIG. 4. i

In conventional winding machines the yarn between the thread guides andthe ring traveler balloons out about the spindle so that twist isinserted in this lower portion of the yarn. The result is that theportion of the yam from the thread guide to the drafting rolls haslittle or no twist to increase its strength so that any undue tensionimposed upon the yarn will cause that untwisted portion to break.

With improvement provided by' this invention not only is the ballooningof the yarn eliminated, but, because of the close horizontal positioningof the rotating projection and the non-rotating thread guide, the twistdeveloped in the lower portion of the yarn is allowed to reach the drafting rolls, thus adding strength to this formerly weak portion of thestrand.

There is thus provided a device for eliminating the ballooning of yarnin a ring spinning machine, and a device which reduces the possibilityof yarn breakage thereby allowing the rotational speed of the spindlesto be increased. Also by keeping the yarn wrapped closely around thewinding tube asthe ring traveler forms the bobbin package, the transientyarn is held much tighter, thus allowing the formation of'a much heavierand more tightly wound bobbin package.

It is an important feature of this invention that the projectionsdesigned for guiding the yarn onto the rotating winding tube are placedon the side surface of the device adjacent its upper perimeter. Sosituated, these projections provide for engagement of the yarnirregardless of the point at which the thread guide is located. In fact,as has been pointed out above, it is desirable that the thread guide bepositioned above the anti-ballooning device so that the yarn will passfrom that point through more of a horizontal path to the projectionsthan has been possible when using anti-ballooning devices knownheretofore.

It has also been found that the tapering groove formed by theprojections and the side surface of the body portion of theanti-ballooning device represents another important feature of thisinvention, being in part responsible for the high increase in rotationalspeed of the spindle which is now possible when using this device.

The projections disclosed on the tapering side surface 'of this device,have also been designed so that the entire projection lies within thecircumierence defined by the upper external rim of the winding tube.This feature greatly assists the removal of the yarn from the windingtube on subsequent. occasions. With the projections so recessed, it isnot now necessary to remove the antiballooning device when removing thebobbin package.

Other specific embodiments of this invention are en- 7 visioned whereinan anti-ballooning device is adapted for a certain degree ofparticularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure hasbeen made only by way of example and the numerous changes in the detailsof construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas hereafter claimed.

I claim: 2 4 5:

1. An anti-ballooning device adaptable'for use in tex- V tile spinningmachines comprising,

a body portion having a side surface which is tapered generally in theform of a truncated cone having a wider end and a narrower end,

means for attaching said wider end of said body portion to the upper rimof a winding tube onto which yarn is wound,

said body portion being substantially hollow and having a cylindricalrecess formed in said narrower end and bottoming in a base formed acrosssaid wider end, said base being mountable over said winding tube, and

a plurality of projections attached to said side surface adjacent saidupper perimeter of said body portion and forming at least one notch withsaid side surface for engaging said yarn, said projections facilitatingdelivery of said yarn to said winding tube.

2. An anti-ballooning device adaptable for use in textile spinningmachines comprising,

a body portion having a side surface which is tapered generally in theform of a truncated cone having a wider end and a narrower end,

means for attaching said wider end of said body portion to the upper rimof a winding tube onto which yarn is wound, including a circumferentialrecess on the lower external side of said base which extends across thewider end of said body portion, said circumferential recess being formedto receive the rounded upper rim of said winding tube,

a locking plate positioned within said winding tube with the outercircumference of the upper surface of said locking plate adjacent theinner surface of the rim of said Winding tube, and fastening meansfirmly attached to said base of said body portion receivable in saidlocking plate for releasably joining said anti-ballooning device withsaid winding tube, and a plurality of projections attached to said sidesurface forming at least one notch With said side surface for engagingsaid yarn, said projections facilitating delivery of said yarn to saidWinding tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSKooistra Jan. 9, 1962 Kartrnann May 8, 1962 Delesalle May 8, 1962FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 17, 1954 France Oct. 28, 1935

1. AN ANTI-BALLOONING DEVICE ADAPTABLE FOR USE IN TEXTILE SPINDLEMACHINES COMPRISING, A BODY PORTION HAVING A SIDE SURFACE WHICH ISTAPERED GENERALLY IN THE FORM OF A TRUNCATED CONE HAVING A WIDER END ANDA NWRROWER END, MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAID WIDER END OF SAID BODY PORTIONTO THE UPPER RIM OF A WINDING TUBE ONTO WHICH YARN IS WOUND, SAID BODYPORTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY HOLLOW AND HAVING A CYLINDRICAL RECESSFORMED IN SAID NARROWER END AND BOTTOMING IN A BASE FORMED ACROSS SAIDWIDER END, SAID BASE BEING MOUNTABLE OVER SAID WINDING TUBE, AND APLURALITY OF PROJECTIONS ATTACHED TO SAID SIDE SURFACE ADJACENT SAIDUPPER PERIMETER OF SAID BODY PORTION AND FORMING AT LEAST ONE NOTCH WITHSAID SIDE SURFACE FOR ENGAGING SAID YARN, SAID PROJECTIONS FACILITATINGDELIVERY OF SAID YARN TO SAID WINDING TUBE.